San Diego High School Baseball : Beltran Leads Castle Park

When Bob Korzep, Castle Park baseball coach, lost one of his starting pitchers to ineligibility, he decided to give sophomore second baseman Juan Beltran a start.

The move paid off as Beltran pitched a three-hitter in leading unbeaten Castle Park to a 4-1 victory over Monte Vista in the Sporting Goods West tournament at Castle Park.

“He pitched JV last year,” Korzep said. “We weren’t going to let him start until next year. He came in and did a good job, and I guess now we have to give him a look.”

Beltran went the distance and struck out eight.

Monte Vista took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Castle Park (4-0) scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Javier Nunez was hit by a pitch, and he stole second and scored on Juan Soriano’s single to tie it, 1-1. Soriano moved to third on Dominic Quintero’s single and scored the go-ahead run on Mike Vallarelli’s single. Quintero scored to make it 3-1 when Monte Vista pitcher Richard Garmo threw wildly on a pick-off attempt at first.

Castle Park’s Jose Palos doubled in a run in the sixth to close the scoring.

In other games in the Sporting Goods West tournament:

Madison 2, Orange Glen 1--When starting pitcher Chuck Frazier complained of a sore arm, Eric Anderson replaced him and went six innings to lead Madison at home. Pete Valdez’s second-inning two-run single was all the support Anderson needed to guide Madison to its fourth victory in four games. Orange Glen is 1-4.

Hoover 6, Sweetwater 1--Hoover took advantage of four Sweetwater errors for the victory at Sweetwater. Ruan Rusich doubled in three runs in a four-run first inning for Hoover (3-1), and Danny Carter doubled in two more in the fifth.

Mar Vista 4, Vista 4--Mar Vista scored two runs in the sixth for a 4-3 lead but couldn’t hold off visiting Vista, which tied the game in the seventh on an error.

Point Loma 17, Bonita Vista 1--Winning pitcher Jeff Gattis struck out 11 at Point Loma. Gattis also had a three-run home run and David Cipranic added a two-run home run. Rigo Beltran had four RBIs for Point Loma (3-1-1).

GMC TOURNAMENT

Santana 11, San Diego 2--The state’s second-ranked team had no trouble rebounding from its first loss with the victory at Santana. Jason Cabral hit a three-run home run in the third inning to give Santana (4-1) a 4-0 advantage. Barry O’Gorman was 3 for 3, Mark Sherman 2 for 4 and Bill Reed 2 for 3 for Santana. Sherman (2-0) went the distance, striking out six, for the victory.

El Cajon 8, Valhalla 2--Gregg Velasco’s two-run single in the fourth inning put El Cajon ahead to stay, 3-2, at El Cajon. Scott Boyd’s two-run single in the fifth highlighted a five-run inning that put the game away for El Cajon (3-2), which has won three straight. Kevin Davis evened his record at 1-1. Valhalla dropped to 1-4.

Coronado 6, Montgomery 5--Noia Duhala’s bases-loaded single with two outs in the seventh inning capped a four-run rally at Coronado. Earlier, Coronado’s Steve Lucal hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 5-4. After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Bill Pate singled to tie the score. Lucal went 3 for 3, including a triple, with three RBIs. Bobby Watson (2-0) pitched the final two innings to earn the victory for Coronado (5-1).

SOFTBALL

San Dieguito 4, Mission Bay 2--Stephanie Freedman hit a bases-loaded double with no outs in the sixth inning to put host San Dieguito ahead for good. Mission Bay (1-2) led, 2-1, going into the sixth, but San Dieguito (1-2) loaded the bases for Freedman. Sandy Reynaga followed Freedman with a squeeze bunt that scored Lisa Germschied with an insurance run. Freedman was the winning pitcher.